


Cirque De Ombre

by iArgent



Series: Shadow Carnivale [1]
Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe: Shadow Carnivale, Creepy stories you probably forgot, Demon!Genesis, Fey Demon thing, Interspecies Romance, M/M, human(ish) Nyx, iron hurts him okay, ominous feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2018-12-21 15:38:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11947320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iArgent/pseuds/iArgent
Summary: The Night Fair, The Shadow Carnivale. Every year it comes. Dark, sinister, and itching for a scare. Each year Nyx takes his sister one day, and they bring a prize to their mother. Nothing big, as they rarely win, and yet.  This year Nyx is winning all the games. This year, their last year with mother, she'll get something to be impressed by.But if the lovely figure in red doesn't keep his wicked fingers away, it'll be their last year with Nyx as well.





	1. Yellow Ribbon

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to DarkestAngellic who selected this as the story I should start next. (I swear I'll get to my other WIP's)
> 
> Based on this prompt.
> 
> Character A knows all the tricks to win those “unwinnable” carnival games. Character B is a magic user who has specifically enchanted the games to be unwinnable, and they find Character A’s luck to be very unnerving.
> 
> I just took it incredibly dark. It'll still be funny, hello, it's me. But dark.

“’Ow’d you do tha’?” The gruff man leaned closer, looking around the scattered bottles as if he’d seen more than just the ball leave the challengers hand.

 

“I found the weakest point and threw the ball. All of these games have a weak link, I just finally found the trick to it.”

 

The carnie was older, round, bald and mean looking as he walked to the counter. “Take some tickets. Might need ta have a talk with ol’ Genny.”

 

Nyx tilted his head as he took the tickets and slid them into his pocket. Selena would love them for their only night here in a few days time. “Ol’ Genny?”

 

“Nothin’ fer you to worry about boy. Git, more games to win.”

 

Confused, but with a pocket beginning to grow heavy with tickets from games he’d won, Nyx moved on.

 

Unlike most carnivals he’d been to, which, granted, was very few, this was…Dark. It was themed, all obscure legends and acts, designed to be unnerving.

 

A pair of girls shrieked and one pulled her dress away from a corpse on the ground that seemed to suddenly spring to life and grab the hem. The corpse/man shook his fist teasingly as the women ran away, shrieking in laughter now.

 

Jump scares. Unnerving acts, living dolls. And only firelight. Even the big top was lit by flame. And, Nyx had noticed his first night, very few safety precautions. The trapeze artists performed without a net, there was no water for the fire jugglers, nothing but a few toys and a crack whip for the coeurl tricks. Voretooth no better.

 

It was creepy, and fun. The mystery of the place and the shadow tricks and magicians. The eerie classical music, upbeat, fast, but with shivering notes that held just a moment too long. Selena was at the age where everything needed to be spooky. She lived for her elder brothers scary stories, their mother at this time of the year for the last two years, after Selena’s thirteenth birthday, even made themed food.

 

Nyx always made sure to take time for his sister. At twenty, he was already living away from home. Sharing an apartment above his bar with his friend Libertus. But Libs knew he took a week off for his sister, came and tried to win her tickets for prizes.

 

This year, Mother was sick. Selena was already set to take care of herself when the worst happened. But Nyx had wanted one last year of bringing a prize or so home for Mother. Usually purchased, as they’d never won much.

 

He stopped his movement by a ring toss booth, and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try this as well. He’d been lucky so far. And Like he’d told the last carnie, he thought he’d learned the trick of it.

 

As he handed Gil to the woman in charge of the booth, a severe yet beautiful woman with long black hair, he felt as if he was being watched. But when he turned to check…

 

“He’ll come over if he’s interested enough.” The woman bit out. “Pay him no mind.”

 

Nyx handled his first ring carefully and noticed it was weighted heavier on one side. “So what are you?” He asked to kill time, still turning the ring over.

 

“How uncouth.” The woman sniffed, hefting a spattered cleaver from behind the counter and bringing it down so hard it stuck in the wood. She giggled when Nyx flinched “Why, I’m the Farmers Wife, of course.”

 

Clearing his throat Nyx threw his first ring and looped a bottle. The Farmers Wife’s eyes widened.

 

The second ring.

 

The third ring.

 

The fourth ring.

 

The fifth ring.

 

All looped bottle necks. Nyx stepped back with a pleased smile.

 

“How did you do that!?” The Farmers Wife cried, hands fluttering uselessly as she looked between the bottles and Nyx. “How!?”

 

Feeling uneasy, Nyx shrugged. “I just find the weak spot. Each game has a trick.”

 

The Farmers Wife blinked at him, and handed over a sleeve of tickets. “Main show’s about to start. If yer going to see it.”

 

Nyx smiled “Yeah, maybe I will. I do love the coeurls and yours look pretty happy, lots of energy.”

 

“Of course they’re happy.” The woman huffed “We take great pains to make them so. Treated better than us most days.”

 

As Nyx waved goodbye he caught sight of a figure ahead. Standing partially in the firelight behind a food booth, partially in shadow. From what he could see the figure was pale, and wore a long, silky looking coat with a hood.

 

Before he could double guess himself, Nyx set off, approaching the figure. “Ah, hello?” He asked as he got closer.

 

A man, clearly. Hair red, cloak, not coat red, and black leather beneath it. Except a wide red ribbon tied neatly around a delicate throat. The red so dark and velvety that it looked like he’d had his throat cut.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I.” Why had he come over. Blue eyes fixed him in a serpentine stare. He felt like he couldn’t move.

 

“You?”

 

His voice was light, but carried weight. Tone not too low nor too high. By the Six he was lovely. “I…Uh.”

 

Pale lips curled into a clearly amused expression. “Cat got your tongue?”

 

“What are you?” No that wasn’t what he’d meant to ask!

 

“How rude.” The man laughed. Then he stepped closer. “You’ve never heard that old story? About the girl with the yellow ribbon?”

 

“But…That’s not yellow.”

 

“I look better in red, and besides.” The man tilted his head back and traced a finger under the material. “It was nice to the touch.”

 

Now Nyx couldn’t stop staring at it. It did look soft. The skin, and the velvet ribbon. “I…don’t know the story.” He admitted dazedly.

 

“This is…A slightly more sinister costume for it, I’ll admit.” The redhead said wistfully, snatching at the length of the cloak. “But so soft, so lovely, I simply couldn’t resist.”

 

“It’s a great color on you, it.” He bit off the rest of the sentance. ‘makes your skin luminous.’ ‘brings out your eyes’ ‘frames you well.’ all weren’t things one said to a stranger.

 

“I do love red.” The man laughed back, surprisingly throaty, it sent a shiver up Nyx’s spine that he never wanted to leave. He wanted to hear it again, breathless keening, breaking as he screamed-

 

“What else were you going to say?”

 

He was brought forcibly back to reality. “I…Just..Um. It makes you. It uh.”

 

“That good?”

 

“Yes.” Again the truth slid out when he made contact with those eyes. “Oh, gods I’m sorry you gotta think I’m some kind of weirdo, and I swear I’m-”

 

He was cut off by two fingertips pressing softly to his mouth. He noticed they were very long fingers, and very delicate hands. Pianist hands, his mother would say. Though the man kept his nails a bit longer, and possibly filed them to points, though it seemed more like they grew narrow and curved on their own, like claws. As he reached to touch the hand it retracted, and when he blinked they were just pretty hands with long nails, no claws.

 

“I don’t think you’re a weirdo at all.” The word weirdo sounded so odd coming off the mans cultured phrasing Nyx felt as if he’d entered an alternate reality. “I simply think you’re curious. Mr?”

 

“Oh!” He’d never introduced himself. “Ah, Ulric. Nyx Ulric.”

 

“Nyx Ulric.” The man repeated slowly, the name dropping like dark honey from his tongue. “Do you plan to view the acts in the tent, Mr. Ulric?”

 

“I…Thought about it. But I’m kind of curious about that ribbon story, ah…I don’t know your..”

 

“Ah” the man snapped his fingers “How rude I’ve been, becoming so distracted. Call me… Hmm. Call me, G. For now.” His eyes narrowed playfully, the blue of his irises seemed to glow from under his lids “Pray, walk me to the tent, and I’ll regale you with the tale.”

 

Wordlessly Nyx offered his left arm, put as G laid a hand by his wrist he hissed in a rather inhuman fashion,and for a moment Nyx saw claws again as the hand was snatched back.

Shaking his hand G looked back at his compatriot. “The left is ever so unlucky.” He laughed “I appear to have shocked myself on your sleeve. It startled me.”

 

“Shall we try the right?”

 

“We shall.” G teased as he walked around to grip Nyx’s right bicep. “Now. I owe you a story.”

 

“I wouldn’t say owe. But I’d like ta hear it.”

 

G smirked and sighed dramatically, and Nyx found himself smiling at the playful theatrics.

 

“Once there was a boy and a girl. And, as is the way of these things, the boy developed a bit of a crush.”

 

“Oh, a love story?” Nyx joked, feeling more himself as they walked so close together.

 

“But of course. Did you expect differently?”

 

“Well, it could be a tragedy. You look like someone who likes romance, but would also maybe enjoy tragedy.”

 

G scoffed “I like theatre. Both. Always both.” He shook his head, light flicks of hair brushed Nyx’s jaw and he was taken aback by how soft it was, the scent like rose incense.

 

“So. The girl always wears a wide, yellow ribbon about her throat.”

 

“Like this.” Nyx interjected, looking down at the red ribbon.

 

“Yes.” G answered simply. “So, natrually, the boy asks her why she wears it. And she says, with all the pride a child can muster, ‘I will only tell my husband.’ and so they grow. And the girl and the boy spend all their time with one another. And one day, the boy asks ‘will you take off the ribbon so I might see you just once without it?’ and the girl says ‘You may see me just once without it when we are wed, and not a day before.’”

 

“A little ominous.”

 

G shot him a pleased look. “So they get married. And on their wedding night. The man asks his wife ‘won’t you take off the ribbon so I might see all of you?’ and the wife, looking nervous, says she will. But he must undo the bow, as it’s his gift.”

 

The tent was closer now, firelight flickering, he could hear the crowd inside. “And?”

G smiled at him and made to pull away.

 

“Oh c’mon you can’t do that to me!”

 

G smirked and stepped closer once more. “So the new husband tugs the bow loose, and as the yellow ribbon falls to the floor, so does his wife’s head. Forever frozen in a mask of sadness. For the ribbon was all that kept her alive.”

 

“Shit that was dark. What’s the meaning? Love kills people?”

 

G pulled away. “My dear, I’ll only tell you when you learn my name. It shan’t be hard.”

 

“So when I learn your name I get the story details?” Nyx asked curiously.

 

“Silly boy.” G purred, stepping closer and brushing a suspiciously smoky kiss over Nyx’s lips. “When you learn my name, you get me. The story is up for interpretation.”

 

And then Nyx was standing alone in the entryway of the tent.

 

He sat through the entire show, but didn’t see a thing.


	2. Um AlDuwais

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A story from home and a disappointingly short meeting.

“Are you going back tonight?” Selena asked first thing in the morning.

 

Nyx rolled over to look at the clock, then back to his sister, his tongue still heavy with sleep, but tasting of smoke “I always go every day the first week.” Besides, he needed the other letter in the mysterious “G”’s name. He’d been too tired to return home last night and had stayed with his family.

 

Selena crawled onto the side of the bed “And when do I go?”

 

Nyx pulled her down to snuggle his younger sister “Every day the second week.”

 

His sister shrieked happily “The whole week?”

 

He was regretting it a bit, but he smiled and nodded anyway.

 

“But it’s here for two months this time!” Selena continued excitedly.

 

News to him. “What really?” a beat “You still have schoolwork, and I have work. We aren’t going every day.”

 

Red hair and blue eyes flashed in his vision, his mouth tasted like smoke. The silver bracelet on his left arm caught on the sheet, snapping him out of his reverie.

 

“Of course” she said, with a tone only a teenager could pull off “But we can go a lot!”

 

“Fine.” he agreed “Let me sleep, child.”

 

Selena stuck her tongue out and flounced from the room. Undoubtedly going to check on Mother.

 

 

That night he tugged a new shirt on and waved goodnight to his family. Mother smiled and Selena told him to have a good night.

 

The sun was setting and the torches were being lit when he arrived. The theme had changed, as it did nightly. The central figure was a tall sickle, all the female workers were dressed fashionably, with cosmetics and gold featured, the men all dressed in street clothes.

 

With a grin, knowing tonight's story, Nyx trotted forward. After a cursory glance around the area too see if a flash of red hair revealed itself, he was left only slightly disappointed. Nyx proceeded on to the carnival games and continued his rounds, receiving some greetings from workers who he remembered.

 

“So, Um AlDuwais?” Nyx asked a familiar face, the woman who had dressed as the farmers wife the last night.

 

“Yes, we try to branch out a bit.” She leaned forward and Nyx got a nose full of her strong sweet perfume.

 

“Well, you’re all really in character, but calling you all the same character is a bit limiting.”

 

The woman blinked slowly, weirdly accurate for her cats eyes of the night. “Tifa. My name is Tifa. Now, gonna wow me with your ring skills? Or are you gonna go try and put your tongue in Gen’s mouth again?”

 

“Gen?”

 

Tifa looked down. “Oh. Oh fuck. Well, that’s not his full name anyway, so I didn’t ruin any stupid contest you have going.”

 

Nyx didn’t do abysmally at the game, but he was a bit too distracted to do well.

 

Tifa snorted in disgust “He’s by the food cart on the hill like last night. People watching. Go be gross and distracted by him.”

 

With a quick thank you, Nyx set off, looking for the telltale red hair. Finally, he saw the man sitting at one of the wooden tables, a torch casting him into an odd light, his shadow flickering and undulating as if he was in motion, or a strange beast rather than a slim, very attractive man in a close fitting red painters shirt and black slacks.

 

“You ditched the pretty cloak, almost didn’t recognize you.” Nyx teased as he approached, slipping into the seat across from the man “Gen.”

 

The redhead startled, wide gold cats eyes the picture of shock.

 

“Tifa told me. Well, more like she let it slip. But I only know it’s not your full name.”

 

Gen smirked, “I’ll allow it.”

 

Nyx let his eyes trail to Gen’s arms, wrapped tightly in a stiff silver fabric that curved into a point over his hands. “Ain’t that hard to eat with?” he commented curiously, seeing a small dish of caramel and apple slices in front of the man. A shriek and a burst of husky laughter came from down the hill, and Nyx tilted his head to see a man pelting away from Tifa holding a sickle, another boy with the running one doubled over in laughter.

 

“It’s quite impossible actually.” Gen answered, one corner of his mouth downturned. “Not without staining the fabric, I fear I didn’t think this through.”

 

“Oh. Uh, well, you look fantastic.” Nyx said, caught himself, and started stammering “I…I mean the costume looks great, not that you in the costume, not that you aren’t but-” He trailed off.

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 

“Uh, if I feed you will you forget I’m a total dick?”

 

Gen tilted his head, golden cats eyes catching the light “Deal.”

 

The redhead stood and crossed over to Nyx’s side of the table, slipping in next to the man and looking at him expectantly.

 

The movement allowed Nyx to smell the scent Gen wore. A smooth blend of musk and apple blossoms, and some form of metal. “You…Smell.”

 

“I smell?”

 

“Good.”

 

Gen blinked and nodded at the apples. “I’m hungry.”

 

Mind desperately trying to be anywhere but there, Nyx scooped some caramel onto the apple and held it out, the slice vanishing in a dexterous slip of tongue and a crunch. Gen smiled. That smile derailed all thought. It was so hard to think around him.

 

“So, Um AlDuwais?”

 

Gen nodded. “It’s a favorite of mine, you know it?”

Nyx nodded quickly “It’s from my home country. A beautiful woman with cats eyes and sickles for hands who smells like heaven and murders all the men she seduces.”

 

“I didn’t use the goats legs. Too hard on short notice.”

 

Eyes involuntarily flickered down to Gen’s legs, crossed beneath the table. “Well. Those are fine.” He could feel himself turning red. “I mean-!”

 

“I’d prefer it if you stayed silent and let me have the nice legs compliment, actually.” Gen cut him off “Yours are quite the sight as well.”

 

Nyx nodded, feeling wooden and dumb.

 

The high tinkling of the music box theme carried over the more rapid beat of the music tonight, signaling the start of the show.

 

“Will you be on your way?”

 

“I’m enjoying the company.” Nyx admitted “Also I only fed you one apple slice.”

 

Gen shrugged one shoulder “I’ll survive. Must I walk you to the tent?”

 

“Not if you don’t want to?” They’d gotten so little time tonight.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t take your arm, or kiss you tonight.” Gen laughed “Staying in character and whatnot. But, come tomorrow, we’ll have more time.”

 

Nyx felt Gen’s eyes on him all the way to the tent.

 

 

 


End file.
